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Board hears final plans for rooftop solar at five schools; city will carry operations costs
Summary
District staff presented final designs and cost estimates for rooftop photovoltaic projects at five Waterbury schools, noting structural reviews passed, 79% state reimbursement, expected Eversource incentive revenue and a city-maintained operations and maintenance contract.
District staff presented final designs and professional cost estimates for rooftop solar photovoltaic installations at five schools and asked the Board to review the materials before filing for DAS review.
Rob Klee (speaker S17), the project's attorney, told commissioners that final plans have been reviewed by the city, building permits are in hand and structural assessments showed the roofs can support the arrays. The five targeted schools are Tinker, Generali, Sprague, Wendell Cross and West Side Middle School.
Klee said the projects are funded largely through the state's school construction reimbursement (about 79% for these projects) and that the district pursued an all-electric construction contractor in a design-bid-build process. He added the district will participate in Eversource incentive programs; staff estimated total net incentive revenue at approximately $200,000 per year over 20 years for the five projects combined.
On operations, the board was told the city — not the Board of Education — will pay for operations-and-maintenance for the five new systems and that the district had run a separate RFP (No. 8699) that selected the construction contractor to provide 24/7 remote monitoring and alarm services. For two existing arrays that are not working, the same maintenance contract will produce an inspection and proposal to make repairs.
Commissioners asked whether the structural studies materially changed projected savings. Staff said Tinker required additional design work because of an older underlying structural layer but that engineers designed an appropriate solution; the remainder of the systems were within expected tolerances.
Board members were also briefed on a missed federal tax incentive opportunity (a prior tax write-off that sunset last calendar year) tied to timing on municipal actions; staff noted the projects still generate energy savings and expected incentive revenue despite that missed opportunity.
Next steps: staff will present final plans to DAS for review and expect to return to the board for a final vote on construction authorization and any bonding arrangements.
